Shewanella loihica

From MicrobeWiki, the student-edited microbiology resource

A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Shewanella loihica

Classification

Higher order taxa

Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Gammaproteobacteria; Alteromonadales; Shewanellaceae; Shewanella; Shewanella loihica

Species

NCBI: Taxonomy

Shewanella loihica

Description and significance

Shewanella loihica.jpg

PV-4T marine bacterial strain of Shewanella loihica was isolated at the deep-sea, hydrothermal Naha Vent from iron-rich microbial mats on the South Rift of Loihi Seamount, Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean. The bacteria was noted as orange and rodlike with a mean length of 1.8 µm and mean width of 0.7 µm. Growth on Luria–Bertani agar plates showed S. loihica to be psychrotolerant at temperatures between 0-42 degrees C (Haichun Gao et al.). The ability of Shewanella to survive at such extremes in temperature in conjunction with their notable respiratory diversity make these bacterial species supreme interests of study. Shewanella have been investigated in the past of understand how their physiology contribute to their varied roles in the environment and have allowed for applicable uses in biotechnology (Gralnick JA et al.). Shewanella have also been linked to pathogenetic potentiality with respect to rare cases of gastrointestinal infection in recent reports in both Israeli & Japanese hospitals (Otsuka T et al.).

Genome structure

NCBI: [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=genomeprj&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Overview&list_uids=13906 ]

The loihica genome is recorded at having 4602594 nucleotides, 3859 protein genes, and 124 RNA genes (Kegg Encyclopedia). PV-4(T) exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity levels of 99.6% to Shewanella aquimarina, 97.5 % to S. marisflavi, 50.5 % to S. aquimarina and 8.5 % to S. marisflavi (JGI Microbes). GC content of Shewanella loihica PV-4, as taken from the NCBI database, is 53.7%.

Cell structure and metabolism

The S. loihica is noted as being Gram-negative (having both outer and inner membranes) and motile through polar flagella (Haichun Gao et al.). Metabolizing through facultative means, S. loihica has been studied extensively for its electron transport systems and ability to use a variety of electron acceptors under anaerobic conditions. Such compounds include iron, manganese, uranium, nitrate, nitrite and fumurate, to name a few (JGI Microbes).

Ecology

Shewanella are distributed worldwide with a knack for surviving at extremely low temperatures. S. loihica was found to grow at temperatures between 0 to 42°C and pH 4.5–10.0 with optimal growth found at temperatures induced at 18 °C and pH range of 6.0 – 8.0 (Haichun Gao et al.). They are facultative anaerobes, able to grow within or without the presence of oxygen in the surrounding environment.

Pathology

(How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.)

Application to Biotechnology

"They are capable of using a variety of compounds as electron acceptors, including oxygen, iron, manganese, uranium, nitrate, nitrite, fumarate, to name a few. This ability makes Shewanella important for bioremediation of contaminated metals and radioactive wastes." (Shewanella loihica PV-4. 2005, JGI Microbes, 1 May 2007. <http://genome.jgi-psf.org/draft_microbes/she_p/she_p.home.html>)

Current Research

Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics, bacterium PV-4 was classified in the genus Shewanella within a distinct novel species. The name Shewanella loihica sp. nov. is proposed. ("Shewanella loihica sp. nov., isolated from iron-rich microbial mats in the Pacific Ocean." International Union of Microbiological Societies. 2006. 1 May 2007. <http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/56/8/1911#T1>)

References

Gralnick JA, Hau HH. "Ecology and Biotechnology of the Genus Shewanella." Annual Review of Microbiology. Expected release Volume 60 (2007) June 1 2007 [1].

Haichun Gao, Anna Obraztova, Nathan Stewart, Radu Popa, James K. Fredrickson, James M. Tiedje, Kenneth H. Nealson and Jizhong Zhou. "Shewanella loihica sp. nov., isolated from iron-rich microbial mats in the Pacific Ocean." International Union of Microbiological Societies. 2006. 1 May 2007. [2].

Otsuka T, Noda T, Noguchi A, Nakamura H, Ibaraki K, Yamaoka K. "Shewanella infection in decompensated liver disease: a septic case." Journal of Gastroenterology. Volume 42 (January 2007) June 1 2007 [3].

Kegg Encyclopedia. 1 May 2007 [4].

Shewanella loihica PV-4. JGI Microbes. (2005) 1 May 2007 [5].

Shewanella loihica PV-4. US DOE Joint Genome Institute. 4 June 2007 [6].

Edited by Niru Sivakumar, a student of Rachel Larsen and Kit Pogliano